The oldest prep school in Leeds is set to close at the end of the autumn term, with governors saying rising costs and VAT on fees have put it in an 鈥渦nsustainable position鈥.
Moorlands School in Weetwood Lane, Leeds, which will close on December 31, will become the 27th independent school to announce closure since the implementation of VAT on fees on January 1 this year.
The school, which was founded in 1898, currently has 144 pupils aged two to 11, according to government figures. It is part of the Methodist Independent Schools Trust, which runs nine UK schools with .
that the school joined the trust in 2012, “bringing with it the benefits of membership to a large network of independent schools”. Another school run by the trust – Woodhouse Grove School – is only seven miles away and includes a junior school, Bront毛 House.
There are a number of other independent schools in the immediate area to Moorlands, including the and .
from the trustees of the Methodist Independent Schools Trust, the decision to close was agreed “in the face of increasingly difficult economic conditions that are impacting many independent schools and show little sign of abating”.
The school said its decision “followed a period of careful reflection and a thorough review of the school’s financial viability”.
It added: “VAT on school fees, alongside a decline in enquiries and registrations, the withdrawal of charitable relief on business rates, increases in Employer National Insurance contributions, the limited ability of a small school to reduce fixed costs, and the rising budgets required for the upkeep of the school site and buildings, have sadly all contributed to an unsustainable financial position.”
